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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23354875">Shades</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canadiantardis/pseuds/Canadiantardis'>Canadiantardis</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Cana's Bad Things Happen Bingo [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Deceit Sanders-centric, Deceit is technically a villain but that's more the media's fault, Gen, Hypnotism, It's more implied than anything actually happening in the fic, Kidnapping, Mind Control, Minor Violence, Morally Neutral Deceit Sanders, One Shot, Remy is more a villain than Deceit, Shapeshifting</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 10:20:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,879</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23354875</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canadiantardis/pseuds/Canadiantardis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"What up bitch?<br/>I got a job you might be very interested in. See, the team of heroes has been hounding some allies of mine, and they are getting very close to some bigger-than-them shit. I got contacted to stall them and convince them to leave sleeping dragons lie before they’re found 6-feet under, y’know?<br/>Help a bitch out?<br/>-Hypno, babe"</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>(It's completely in the background but prominent enough to tag), Anxiety | Virgil Sanders &amp; Deceit Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Creativity | Roman &amp; Logic | Logan &amp; Morality | Patton</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Cana's Bad Things Happen Bingo [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674190</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>70</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Shades</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Desolate_Smog/gifts">Desolate_Smog</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Des requested "You said you would let them go" with "Technical Villain" Deceit bargaining for the release of Hero Light Sides</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Deceit wasn’t one for being honest, in any way, ever.</p>
<p>But he’s <em> honestly </em> been having a bad day.</p>
<p>A plot needing to return to the drawing boards, his ally was back in prison for the weekend so any work he needed help with was halted until he broke out again, while his partner-in-crime was getting ready for a date so he wasn’t available out of anxiety, and it wasn’t even yet noon.</p>
<p>He sighed heavily, checking the time on his laptop as he fiddled with ideas he could get away with. 11:57am. Sunlight was streaming through the windows off to his right, showing off the facade of the city’s good spots. He could try to do a robbery, but that wasn’t wise to do alone, and it would only get him in jail until he slipped away overnight - he had to thank the government for never getting those pesky upgrades that would make escaping harder for him and his prison-bound ally - yet robberies were possibly the lightest offense he could do.</p>
<p>Maybe he could scare some brats, turn into a large tarantula and chase people, he thought with a chuckle to himself. That would be pretty entertaining, and he wouldn’t even be doing anything illegal, though he would running the risk of someone trying to step on him rather than running, or trying to catch him because, like the punk he considered his closest friend, some people actually loved spiders in all forms and species, unlike his date.</p>
<p>That thought brought a smile to his face. He could always mess with Virgil and his date. Shift into various spiders to terrify the arachnophobe, and maybe get some blackmail out of the entire thing. But the date wasn’t until 9 in the evening, so that still left roughly 8 hours of nothing to do when it was Deceit’s <em> mission </em> to be even a minor nuisance in society. If he didn’t do anything for even a single day, the media outlets in the city would go tabloid crazy, thinking he was packing up and leaving, or been caught for good, or died, or left the city finally, or this or that or <em> whatever. </em></p>
<p>With a roll of his eyes, he went to check his emails. There was nothing for his civilian self, Dolon Saunders, the wallflower freelance journalist besides the pointless ads and promotions that he kept getting just to make sure he acted like a normal person every once in a while, but he was curious when his ‘hidden’ email had a new message from an unknown address. After screening that there was no hidden virus or scam, he clicked the email to see what was inside.</p>
<p>The first few lines gave him everything he needed to know. A rare team-up, indeed, he thought to himself, stroking his chin as he read the message, and it was much rarer for Hypno himself to reach out to him in the first place. The last time the two had worked together, he had been the one to seek the other out, in person, after several hours of frustrated searching.</p>
<p>
  <em> What up bitch? </em>
</p>
<p><em> I got a job you might be very interested in. See, the team of heroes has been hounding some allies of mine, and they are getting very close to some bigger-than-them shit. I got contacted to stall them and convince them to leave sleeping dragons lie before </em> <em> they’re </em> <em> found 6-feet under, y’know? </em></p>
<p>
  <em> Help a bitch out? </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> -Hypno, babe </em>
</p>
<p>XxX</p>
<p>Deceit wasn’t sure why he actually thought the email would make his day better, thinking back.</p>
<p>He had agreed to help distract Team Gradient so Hypno’s allies could relocate their base of operations, which would only take a few hours, or so he was told. There was prep, the execution, and then the getaway before any of the three got the jump on them and Hypno and him would find themselves in the paddy wagon by the time they woke up, which would leave him just enough time to decide for sure if he was going to follow through with the potential blackmail of Virgil and his scaredy-cat date and travel time if he was going to do it. He already knew exactly where the two were going to go, who was being picked up, etc. because Virgil had needed an entire check-list and timetable because he was so anxious. Deceit hoped the scaredy-cat appreciated all the work Virgil took to do this.</p>
<p>… Okay, maybe he was also thinking about following the date to make sure one of his only actual friends wasn’t going to get his heart broken or harmed, because he was smitten for a goody-two-shoes. Sue him, he cared about people other than himself. Not that he would <em> ever </em> admit it, even under pains and penalties of perjury.</p>
<p>Deceit arrived at the meeting point for him and Hypno several minutes after 1:30pm, shifting from a regular looking squirrel back into himself. He couldn’t exactly walk normally in his outfit, as it was as flashy as a hero’s, eye-catching and easily identifiable to who he was and what he was doing. Hence, the common creatures to avoid suspicion.</p>
<p>He walked through the alleyway he was told to meet up with Hypno, eyes flitting from one place to another until he saw movement by one of the dumpsters. He approached without worry, and saw his temporary ally, drinking what seemed like a never-ending thermo of coffee. Seriously. Deceit had yet to see that thermo be empty, or Hypno grumbling about being out.</p>
<p>“Good, hey babe.” All he could see of Hypno’s eyes were the very faint outline through sunglasses. He was smirking, as usual.</p>
<p>The man wasn’t much, but his power was very much abused for selfish reasons. The ability to control a single person’s mind for a full hour, while the effects could last for a full 24? Deceit couldn’t fault him for using his powers to do whatever he wanted without much remorse or guilt for his actions.</p>
<p>“Do you have everything you need or will we be going on a coffee run before we find the trio?” Deceit asked in a bored tone, looking at Hypno with a raised eyebrow.</p>
<p>“Course, babe, what do you take me for, an amateur? Psh, bitch please. Let’s get our asses in gear.” He headed off further into the alleyway, his walk more like a swaggering. It was utterly obnoxious.</p>
<p>They hardly spoke a word as they walked together. Neither were much a fan of the other. Deceit disliked Hypno’s too-laid-back attitude, but looked over it in favour of knowing he was good at what he does and wasn’t one to falter or get cold feet in the middle of a mission. He knew Hypno disliked him for his moral standings on what was acceptable vs what was absolutely not okay, as it was closer to that of the heroes they fought than with others the media classified as ‘villains’ in the city. He never minded it much, they could debate moral quandaries until the sun exploded and neither side would have budged an inch.</p>
<p>Leaving the alleyway through the other entrance, the two were on an empty street. It was the perfect place to set up the bait. With Deceit’s own understanding of how the city’s beloved heroes worked, given how often he agreed with what they were doing, but they nitpicked over what Deceit himself was doing, if it was really helping the city or helping only himself, they were able to set up the best trap to guarantee the trio would come.</p>
<p>“You remember the plan?” Hypno asked as they both walked into the middle of the street.</p>
<p>“Yes.” He rolled his eyes, turning to the other.</p>
<p>“Good. Now be a good boy-” Hypno slid his sunglasses down, and Deceit couldn’t help but look into his startlingly galaxy eyes. It felt as if the galaxies got bigger and bigger, until all he could see were the pinpricks of dots in the endless expansive midnight blue.</p>
<p>XxX</p>
<p>When Deceit came to, like any of the times he was put under Hypno’s power, it was with a deep breath and suddenly all his senses were turned on. He blinked rapidly and looked around to where he was, before the sounds caught his attention first.</p>
<p>Grunts, the sounds of a person struggling against something - likely restraints - and rapid breathing. Nearby, by the proximity, and a quick look around told him a bit more, but something was off.</p>
<p>For one, it was much darker in the day. Deceit was supposed to come back to himself an hour after Hypno controlled him, even if he left any lingering suggestions in his head. The effects were supposed to work much like subconscious ideas, and would be as if Deceit himself had come up with the idea all on his own.</p>
<p>“Deceit you vile snake!” Crimson’s voice shattered the last vestiges of the direct mind control, and he snapped his head to the voice. “Get over here so I can defeat you!”</p>
<p>He always thought Crimson and the Duke looked strikingly similar, but because he did not want to potentially know something as dangerous as Remus’ civilian life that he kept religiously under lock and key, he never brought it up, nor sought it out. Still, he couldn’t help but compare the two in his head as the hero bared his teeth at him. All he needed was less care over his hair, that manic spark to twinkle in his eyes, and the stereotypical villain curly moustache, and they’d be clones.</p>
<p>On either side of Crimson were Navy and Azure. Navy had his head bowed, glasses barely on his nose, his normally well-tended, gelled hair was loose and hanging over his face, making it difficult to see if the man was even conscious. He was limp enough to look knocked out. It made sense, if Hypno and he had been planning on keeping the trio busy, taking out the mind reader would have been paramount to ensure they could keep the other two truly distracted.</p>
<p>Azure seemed to be the one to be breathing quickly, his movements jerky and almost frantic. Before Deceit could even finish that thought process, he was approaching the heroes, kneeling in front of Azure, and putting a hand on his shoulder.</p>
<p>“I’m <em> definitely </em> not about to ask you to calm down. Follow my words or pass out.” He had known Virgil for years, the words came easily. Practiced, controlled, gentle. It snapped Azure’s attention to him long enough that he was able to take exaggerated breaths for the hero to copy. He was relieved that Crimson seemed to understand what he was doing, and kept quiet while he got Azure to get his breathing back to normal and away from that cliff of anxiety he had put himself on top of.</p>
<p>Azure blinked behind his glasses, focusing on Deceit before he glanced around with a worried frown. He opened his mouth to speak, but Deceit let go of his shoulder and spoke up before he could.</p>
<p>“Ah ah, it might not be the time.” He stated, standing back up, dusting off his pants.</p>
<p>“Not the time?!” Crimson seemed to take Deceit’s movements as an acceptable time to return to his bellows. “When exactly is the time, huh? What’s your dirty plan this time?”</p>
<p>“I had been <em> told </em> a simple distraction mission, to keep the three of you busy for a few hours.” He admitted, looking towards a shuttered window. If it had been anytime during the early afternoon like it was supposed to be when Deceit came back, they would have held a shine at the edges, but there was none. <em> “Obviously, </em> it was a ruse on all of us. How much time has passed? I had been aware around 2 before allowing Hypno into my head.”</p>
<p>His brief explanation caused the loud-mouth hero to pause, eyes narrowed and flitting all over his face like he was searching for the lie. Not that he would be able to find it even if he had been lying and actively trying to sound genuine.</p>
<p>“It’s…” Azure spoke up, his words hesitant. “It’s been a few hours. Hyp-Hypno came around several times to talk to you, but he hasn’t returned yet.”</p>
<p>“Great.” Deceit sighed, mentally counting. It could be anywhere from 8 to 11 in the evening. By now he might have completely missed Virgil’s date. He hoped his friend was in good hands.</p>
<p>“If this was just distraction, then can we go now?” Crimson asked, tugging on the bonds keeping him from escaping.</p>
<p>Deceit frowned. The agreement was supposed to be over by 7 at the latest, and it was obviously much later than that, but he wasn’t sure what happened, or even where they were. He looked around the area he had come-to in, but found it lacked any sort of information as to what could help him figure out where they were. Plain, empty walls, and nondescript windows with rather plain looking shutters. It could be anything from an abandoned home to an old office building.</p>
<p>“Fuck it, sure.” He shook his head and reached forward to undo the restraints against Azure, when he felt a text message buzz in his pockets. Four short, quick pulses to indicate it was Virgil. His frown deepened and he paused to fish out his phone and quickly check, noting the time as well.</p>
<p>9:14pm. It wasn’t as late as he first anticipated, but it was still annoying that he had lost so much time for a reason he hadn’t been given, and Hypno was nowhere to be found yet.</p>
<p>In the span of Deceit grabbing his phone and checking the message, Virgil had managed to send more in rapid succession.</p>
<p>
  <em> How long into waiting outside his house is it to be considered bad or stalkery? </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Scratch that, what if he’s not home yet? He never told me his hours and shit so he might be stuck in work??? D, idk what I’m doing </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Maybe I made a mistake, this was a bad idea, he’s probably happy to be at work. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> But maybe he didn’t mean to get stuck?? Then I’m just being an asshole… </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Ugh, D, are you home?? Idk what to do, I don’t think anyone’s home and I’m feeling really bad. </em>
</p>
<p>He frowned. If he ever saw the date, Deceit was going to scare the life out of him, even if he had a valid excuse for not even being home this late in the day. He put his phone away without a word and reached back out to undo the restraints.</p>
<p>“Hold it, babe.” He snapped his head toward the voice to see Hypno approach, an eyebrow raised above his sunglasses. “Not yet.”</p>
<p>“This agreement ended hours ago.” Deceit rolled his eyes and turned back to Azure. “A few hours, not half a day, <em> babe.” </em> He mocked.</p>
<p>“Yeah well, things changed. We can’t let them go.” Footsteps, and then a hand grabbing his shoulder and pulling him away. Deceit snapped at the hand as he turned, eyes narrowed.</p>
<p>“And you couldn’t have told me this after the first hour?”</p>
<p>“No. Now stop being a little bitch.”</p>
<p>“You said we were only distracting them, where are we and why are we here.” He demanded.</p>
<p>“And I just said things changed.” He could imagine the eyeroll coming from the other man. “Look, they know too much. The guys will be here to take care of things once they’re all set up and we’re free to go.”</p>
<p>Deceit’s eyes turned into slits, and it was only an afterthought that he was relieved the two conscious heroes weren’t saying a thing.</p>
<p>“Take care of things?” He echoed, annoyance and anger welling up. “No, fuck that, I’m <em> so </em> ready to be an accomplice for <em> murder of heroes.” </em></p>
<p>Hypno opened his mouth to retort, but Deceit was done listening. He threw a punch that caught Hypno in the jaw, and he went down like a sack of potatoes. Semi-shifting his hands into those of a tiger, he slashed the restraints holding Azure down before doing the same to Crimson while the light blue hero undid Navy from his own. Once the three heroes were free, the two conscious grabbed the third, looking to Deceit with mixed expressions.</p>
<p>“Go.” He ordered, turning back to Hypno, who was still on the ground, groaning in pain, with his sunglasses thrown off his face a couple feet from him. “I take my agreements seriously, and any double-crossing or whatever the hell you thought you’d get away with using me like this,” Hypno looked at him, angry, but just as his head turned, Deceit shut his eyes, “you should have known about the repercussions of fucking with me.”</p>
<p>He heard the trio leave, which was honestly for the best. With Navy down and out for who-knew how long, the other two would be worried about him getting caught in the cross-fire. No liabilities.</p>
<p>“You forget who I am, Hypno.” He growled as he shifted more and more of his body into that of a tiger, saving his head for last before the vocal chords shifted and he’d be unable to form words. “And that was your biggest mistake.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This story is part of the <a href="https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject"> LLF Comment Project</a>, which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:<br/>Feedback</p>
<ul>
<li>Short comments</li>
<li>Long comments</li>
<li>Questions</li>
<li>“&lt;3” as extra kudos</li>
<li>Reader-reader interaction</li>
</ul>
<p>This author replies to comments.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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